Francis Benali compared Southampton to a boxer having taken a lot of blows, while discussing their Premier League hopes.
If you are a new Southampton fan, 17 defeats out of 21 games seems shocking. Indeed, it is, but it's nothing new for the seasoned Saints.
Historically, Southampton has always been a relegation surviving team barring a few seasons. Consequently, a lot of legendary Saints have also fought for Premier League survival on multiple occasions.
Thus, most of them still believe that Southampton can avoid the drop. Still, consistent results are needed for that to happen.
The recent Manchester United game seemed there for the taking, yet, the Saints couldn't cross the finish line.
This pattern has become repetitive in the Premier League, now. To the point that Southampton legend Francis Benali has made an interesting claim about Southampton.
Southampton legend Francis Benali makes interesting claim about the Saints
In his Daily Echo column, Benali said: "I hope Thursday's loss is not one blow too many. We are a little bit like a boxer who has taken too many punches at the moment, even though there's a long way to go in the season."
The boxer analogy is quite creative, but Benali is absolutely spot on.
Certainly, losing a winning game in the late moments doesn't do any good to the morale. Especially not when you have rarely got in a leading position throughout the Premier League season.
Now, Southampton could be punished even further for not securing their 1-0 lead at the Old Trafford. The reason is that they are playing Nottingham Forest today, that too without Tyler Dibling.
The Red Devils match was expected to be Ivan Juric's biggest challenge so far. Currently, it's getting much more challenging with every passing game.
Benali notably mentioned that the Saints still have much to play for. So, could Southampton deliver a knockout punch to Nottingham Forest, let's see.